Chapter 449 Opening a Theater

Indeed, there wasn't a single fool in the royal family.

Having worked at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion for many years, Steward Wang naturally had a good understanding of the methods employed by those powerful and influential families.

At first, he thought the princess was brave because she was determined to avenge him, but now he realized that she was already so capable at such a young age.

“Alright,” Butler Wang said in a deep voice, “I’ll go back with you and testify.”

A faint smile suddenly bloomed in Sheng Sheng's eyes, like the first ray of light breaking through the melting snow in spring. Her clear eyes curved into crescents, and even her tone became lighter as she earnestly said, "Thank you!"

...

With the support of Steward Wang, Sheng Sheng urged Zhu Yue to take Steward Wang back, then took Zi Juan back to the previous clinic to get the hawthorn tea she had bought for Xie Yunqi, and then returned to Zuixianlou.

The two were gone for quite some time. When Sheng Sheng returned to the private room carrying the small pot of hawthorn tea, Xie Yunqi had already eaten his fill.

Xie Yunqi rubbed her belly, crossed her legs, and casually placed her arms on the chair next to her, asking, "Why did it take so long?"

Sheng Sheng replied without changing her expression, "It's because the clinic is crowded and the wait is long. I took advantage of this break to wander around the side."

The hawthorn tea was warm; she had just had the clinic warm it in hot water.

Therefore, Xie Yunqi did not notice anything amiss.

"Thank you for your hard work, little sister." Xie Yunqi, unsuspecting, took the hawthorn tea and asked, "Why didn't you buy some delicious food or fun things? Did you forget to bring any money? I have some here!"

As he spoke, Xie Yunqi reached for his silver.

Sheng Sheng quickly stopped him: "Yes, yes, we brought them. We just looked around because we didn't really like any of them."

"Oh, okay, if you have any favorites, you must tell me."

He readily agreed.

Because Xie Yunqi had paid a certain price to leave the palace today, she didn't want to just have a meal and go back. After thinking it over, she simply took Shengsheng to a teahouse to listen to storytelling.

Having just finished eating, Xie Yunqi was too full to eat any more tea or snacks, and since she still needed to drink hawthorn tea, Sheng Sheng only ordered a pot of tea for herself.

The two sat on the second floor, in the best spot with a view, chatting casually while listening to the storyteller below.

Sheng Sheng listened quite attentively; having been away from the capital for so long, the storytellers in the teahouses had long since changed their tales.

But Xie Yunqi was different. Although he hadn't left the palace much during this time, he still kept collecting storybooks and other such books and brought them into the palace, reading them all.

Aside from the various gossips in the capital, the stories told by storytellers were mostly fabricated tales or adaptations of traditional vernacular stories.

What I'm about to tell you is a story from a storybook that Xie Yunqi had read.

Xie Yunqi had read the storybook before and lost interest, showing little enthusiasm.

Seeing that he was bored, Sheng Sheng said, "How about we stop listening?"

"No, there's nowhere else to go besides storytelling." Xie Yunqi pouted, then suddenly grinned mischievously, "There is a place where you can watch song and dance, but you definitely wouldn't dare to go."

"where?"

"A brothel!" Xie Yunqi said, "The brothel has no shortage of beautiful and talented girls; you can find anything you want to see!"

“…Uh.” Sheng Sheng thought about it for a moment, and it seemed to make sense.

"But we can't go, so even if you dare, it's not allowed."

With a helpless sigh, she said, "I never even wanted to go."

"Oh, alright." Xie Yunqi sighed. "Sigh, how boring. The teahouses are always the same old thing. Can't they come up with something new? And the opera troupe, they only perform a few times a month. You have to pick a time if you want to go see a show."

Sheng Sheng blinked and then whispered, "Fifth Brother, when I was in Jin, I saw a special theater in the capital city."

"oh?!"

Xie Yunqi became interested: "A theater, a theater specifically for opera troupes to perform?"

“Yes, there are several different opera troupes in the theater. These troupes take turns performing, so you can see different plays every day,” Sheng Sheng said with a smile. “The opera troupes come to the teahouse to borrow space for three reasons. First, it’s too expensive to set up a dedicated theater; an opera troupe doesn’t have enough money or energy. Second, if they had a theater, they would have to perform continuously, which would strain their voices and leave them no time to rest. Third, an opera troupe has a limited repertoire, so performing every now and then keeps the audience interested and prevents them from losing interest.”

"But these problems can all be solved if we can open a theater where several opera troupes work together, right? Of course, it's easier for several opera troupes to make money together than for one troupe to make money alone."

Xie Yunqi's eyes shone like two stars. She leaned forward, her hands resting on the table, and said excitedly, "Sister, do you mean we should also become leaders of several opera troupes, like we did in the capital, and then open a theater to make money?"

"That's right, it's not just about making money. Fifth Brother, didn't you want to listen to operas without having to pick a specific day? This solves that problem, doesn't it?"

"Alright, alright, little sister, I'll have someone prepare it as soon as we get back!"

She looked at him with a smile and became excited.

Having found a way to make money, Xie Yunqi finally stopped feeling bored and even found storytelling fascinating.

The brother and sister wandered aimlessly outside the palace for half a day, bought "apology gifts" for Consort Li, and then went to another dessert shop to drink dessert for dinner before returning to the palace.

Sheng Sheng knew that Consort Li must be furious. She thought that it was because she went to have dinner with Xie Yunqi that Xie Yunqi staged this "rebellious escape," so she also bore some responsibility. Therefore, she accompanied Xie Yunqi to see Consort Li first.

Xie Yunqi had long been prepared to bear the wrath, but when he returned to the palace, he was greeted not by Consort Li's anger, but by her gentle and happy smile.

Not long after he stepped inside, Xie Yunqi could hear Consort Li's hearty laughter.

Xie Yunqi: "?"

Has the tigress changed her nature?

Or are they so angry that they don't even want to be angry anymore, so they might as well just laugh?

Xie Yunqi walked in with a blank expression, only to find that Xie Yuxiao was having dinner with Consort Li.

The palace was bathed in warm light. Consort Li was covering her mouth and laughing, with the golden hairpin at her temple swaying gently. There was no trace of the fierce demeanor she used to have, which could change her expression at any moment.

Xie Yunqi peeked inside and saw Xie Yuxiao dressed in bright yellow casual clothes, sitting upright in the main seat, holding jade chopsticks between his fingers, slowly and deliberately placing a piece of food on Consort Li's plate, saying, "My dear consort, try this, it's a crystal shrimp dumpling newly made by the Imperial Kitchen."

Consort Li smiled and agreed. She glanced at the two people at the door and her smile widened. She quickly stood up and waved, "Qi'er and Shengsheng are back? Come in quickly, your father was just talking about you."